Canadiens defenceman Alexei Emelin, who has been sidelined since last season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery, practised with his teammates Monday in Brossard while wearing a regular practice jersey. It marked the first time he has participated in a practice without wearing a no-contact jersey.

Last week, Emelin signed a four-year, $16.4-million contract extension with the club that takes him through the 2017-18 season.

Martin St-Pierre, who was called up from the Hamilton Bulldogs on Sunday night, also took part in the practice. Travis Moen was wearing a no-contact jersey at practice along with a visor to protect a fractured orbital bone suffered on Oct. 26 in a game against the San Jose Sharks. Moen won’t be ready for Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio 690), but hopes to play Thursday in Ottawa against the Senators.

“Obviously it was a scary call,” Moen said of the eye injury. “I’ve had a few in my career that obviously make you really think about putting a visor on. They won’t let me play without one for at least four to six weeks. So I’ll tough it out for then and then make a decision (about keeping the visor on).”

Daniel Brière skated Monday for the first time since suffering a concussion on Oct. 19 against the Nashville Predators. No timetable has been set for his return to the lineup, but coach Michel Therrien said he is symptom free. Brandon Prust, who injured his shoulder during the same game against Nashville, also skated Monday but no date has been set for his return to the lineup. Brière and Moen both skated on the second practice rink in Brossard.

Monday was Therrien’s 50th birthday and Brendan Gallagher celebrated the occasion by giving the coach a cream pie to the face. After practice, Therrien confirmed that Carey Price will start in goal Tuesday night against the Blues.

When asked about P.K. Subban’s play this season, Therrien told reporters in Brossard: “He’s a thoroughbred, but you have to guide a thoroughbred so he’ll win you the race.”

David Desharnais, who has only one assist in 15 games and is minus-2 in the first season of a four-year, $14-million contract, was demoted to the fourth line at practice with Ryan White and George Parros.

“He wants success and we’re working with him to make sure that he’s going to get some success,” Therrien said about Desharnais. “But, obviously, the success is not there. So now we’re in a position that we have to make decisions. And we try everything with him. As a coaching staff, we met him, we showed him videos, we gave him ice time to make sure that he was able to get out of that slump. But there’s a time that as a coaching staff that we had to make some decisions and because the results are not there. Yes, we’re coaching indivduals, but in the meantime we’re coaching a hockey team as well. So we’ve got to make sure that we’re putting the best lineup that we’re thinking is going to make us win hockey games.

“We haven’t given up hope,” Therrien added. “For sure, the results are forcing us to make decisions and we have to make those decisions.”

The Canadiens also announced on Monday that Price is the Molson Cup recipient for the month of October. Price was selected five times as the first star of the game (on Oct. 5 against Philadelphia, Oct. 12 at Vancouver, Oct. 15 in Winnipeg, Oct. 17 against the Columbus and Oct. 29 against Dallas) and once as the second star (Oct. 19 against Nashville). Price finished ahead of Tomas Plekanec and Michaël Bournival. Price had a 6-5-0 record in 11 games in October, with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage. He will be presented with the Molson Cup before Tuesday’s game.

After Tuesday’s game against the Blues, the Canadiens will travel to Ottawa to face the Senators Thursday night (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN Radio 690) and then play a rare Sunday night game at the Bell Centre against the New York Islanders (6 p.m., TSN-HABS, RDS, TSN Radio 690).

It was about time but let´s be honest: Would you rather have DD in the lineup or Parros? This fourth line with St.Pierre, White and Parros absolutely makes no sense and there´s a good chance it will cost us again like at Minnesota.

Martin St-Pierre should be extra motivated tonight.
Sure he never stuck to the NHL, but that dream must still be alive in him, and while storied like Darche, where an older player finally sticks to an NHL club are rare, you have to figure it’s still something he thinks about.

So tonight he gets a shot, another shot at trying to make himself a place on the big club, he’s shown to have some offensive flair, and he is a veteran.

Could he displace DD in the long run? Maybe, probably not, when you consider the contracts in place, it’s a tough switch to pull.
But I hope he is motivated and plays his heart out.

Desharnais finally scratched. Long time coming, pretty shocked to hear the rationale when they mentioned they we’re working with him, film, making sure he got enough ice time to get going etc, but nothing worked.

Really shows the organization didn’t want that contract to look like a joke but unfortunately it’s gotten to that point.

The organization did not keep playing him and working with to show the contract was not a joke, that’s not even supported by anything.

They gave him the contract because they recognize his talent, determination, and character. And they kept working with him because they know he is a good player who is just in a slump, so they did everything they could to help him through it.

Sadly Jim, I question how much he actually wanted to play for the habs considering he didn’t come here in his prime when he had the chance. If it was his dream he would have done it. It wasn’t like Philly was a cup contender when he signed there either.

I think the habs were one of the few suckers jumping to get at him as a free agent.

SD, this is something that I simply do not understand. The refs would not even allow one of his team mates to help him. However, there is an old saying that payback is a b!tch. Maybe Emery will get his one of these days.

He rightly points the finger at the refs for not doing enough. But he skirts the bigger issue by saying “as long as there is fighting in hockey”. I like Fraser and his column but I disagree with this “oh well, thems the rules” view. The league COULD suspend Emery if they wanted. They don’t want to.

If there’s one positive about DD, it’s that he always gives a solid effort…. it just doesn’t amount to much. With Gomez, I felt that he’d float around the ice, lose the puck on the offensive blue-line and look uncommitted for 19/20 shifts in a game. At the very least, it keeps me from disliking Desharnais.

He seems to struggle alot more though, physically and speed-wise he does not seem to be able to do the things he was doing before.
Maybe he does not have the space that Cole/Patches created for him before.

I see also that Patches is not playing the same game as 2 seasons ago, he’s not as physical and rushing anymore.

To me, after looking at game footage during his big year and even last year, he really doesn’t exhibit the poise and confidence with the puck that he used to. He’s actually noticeably faster than during his big years but he’s not as capable of carrying the puck, he can’t get through any sort of traffic and he can’t win puck battles. It seems to me that he’s panicking and not making the smart pass and as you said, a lot of this can be attributed to his line mates being unable to open up space for themselves and Desharnais to connect those passes.

Agree, I am quite excited to see this lineup play. Here in Toronto, all we are hearing about is the injuries to their centers Bozak and Bolland. Carlyle keeps talking about how you build a team from your centers out.

To me a lineup of Plex, Galchenyuk and Eller as top 3 centers, seems pretty exciting!

The Blues are a very good hockey team. Lots of depth, lots of skill, lots of physicality, elite defensively, well-coached, solid goaltending etc. They aren’t a complete team as IMO don’t have many players with high-end/game-breaking offensive skill but, they’re well on their way. Not quite as impressive as a team like Chicago but one of the top teams in the league.

Why is that?
You seem to admire those that stand up for those being mistreated/disrespected.
Pricebots stand up for Carey, who in contrast to PK, has actually been disrespected and thrown under the bus, for quite a while now, by the fans and the media.

PKbots? I’d be the first to line up to defend PK if there was something going on. But at the moment the wiring of the PKbots has them malfunctioning, they seem to have erroneously picked up on a transgression that requires intervention. IMO, the programming has a few glitches that make the bots misinterpret plain statements.

Not going to be easy tonight, not only do the Blues play tight defensively, they have a very effective forecheck, I watched them play against the Kings in the last playoffs and when they hit, they hit hard!

Unfortunately, tonight’s game will be preceded by the awarding of the Molson Cup for October to Price. If history is anything to go by, Price will then be scored on three times while the goaltender at the other end will pick up a shutout stopping not much more than a dozen shots from the outside.

HIO reminds me these days of the toxic environment known as Price vs Halak. When we believe in someone or something we are relentless.
Excuses vs Reasons equaling the notion that one man’s terrorist is anothers’ freedom fighter.

Some players are given good reason for their sucktitude (not to imply permanent sucktitude)

“Pleks has never had decent linemates”
“PK is being ruined by MT”
“Budaj doesn’t get enough games”

While, for others, there is good reason for their sucktitude, even when playing well. No, no, we never cut them any slack.

“Bourque is useless and a floater”
“Briere is old and useless, past his prime”
“DD is a francophone, nuff said”
“Diaz is a soff SwissMiss”
“Drewiske, the worst hiring on this planet”
“Gionta, too short to be a Captain.”
“Gorges brings nothing to this team, except shot blocking, BFD.”
“LL is another francophone bust”
“Big Doug is slower’n molasses.”
“MaxP is injury prone”
“Parros can’t skate, and is not even that great of a fighter”

A truly great player will excel even with an average coach, imho.

There is only one reason our team is not at the top. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit A, the roster of the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens.

Even Perron admits it was the team that won the Cup, and not his coaching. By linking the 76-77 roster, and as MRonn goes to specifics, it’s all about the roster. I am no big fan of Therrien, but can’t pin everything on him either.

Y’know, the PK vs MT talk is a lot of fun (or not) and it’s taken a bit away from the Price vs Halak talk…

But to be honest, what I am really looking forward to tonight is PK vs Pietrangelo.

Both of these guys are special hockey players.
I was able to watch them play against each other in junior and it was a phenomenal match-up. PK’s agressive, dynamic style matched beautifully with Pietrangelo’s controlled cerebral game.

It was awesome to watch. Pk would rush the puck, throw great hits and the arena would come to life. Peitrangelo would carry the puck and the game would slow down and he’d just control the game.

I’d rather have them both on the team, but if I had one guy and I was asked to trade him straight up for the other, I’d do it.

I think this’ll be the first time we see them play eaqch other as bona fide stars, not youngsters or guys with potential.

ahh…. it’s all too depressing. I’m not even watching the games since they are clearly a .500 team, with streaky players and a perennial size problem. Being a fan doesn’t mean being blind and I’ve been a Habs fan since the 1960’s. I was spoiled by the early years through the 1980’s. I fear we will be constrained to a Laffs and ‘Nucks fate of no Cup for 40 years. Make me feel better…

Promote the Youth, Support From The Veterans and Remember the Heritage!

I never understood only being able to support the team when they are the best. There isn’t 6 teams anymore.
MOST teams in this league are in the middle.
THREE WINS are the difference between where we stand now and being the number one team in the league.
Last season in the East 4 wins separated 7 teams from 3rd to tenth. 5 wins separated 14 teams ranking from 4th to 18th.
The year before that 5 wins separated the top 10 teams in the entire league.
Its not depressing unless the only way you can enjoy the Habs is if they win the Cup every year.

The following slightly amended post should be considered when pontificating on the struggles of a certain Hab centre …

During the 2010-11 season, he scored a career-high 30 goals and added 32 assists.

This year, playing a lockout-shortened schedule, he has been a shell of his former self. Heading into Friday’s game against xxxx, he has just six goals in 41 games. He has just two in the last 27. He played only 10 minutes, 53 seconds against Buffalo Wednesday, his second-lowest ice time this season. And he has been yanked off the power play.

He is struggling mightily, and at practice Thursday all signs pointed to him being a healthy scratch Friday. He seemed resigned to the possibility and said he wouldn’t harbor any anger at coach xxx

“I wouldn’t blame anyone but myself,’’ “If that’s what needs to be done in order to get myself going, then I’m most for what’s best for the team and not best for myself.

“I want to be a part of the team, I want to be better, I want to contribute. I know I can be a big part of the team. Ultimately, it all comes down to myself.”

The coach wasn’t 100 percent sure he would sit. He also isn’t sure what the problem is.

“If I knew, I’d certainly correct it,’’ said the coach. “We’ve tried different things. Right now, he doesn’t seem to be as emotionally engaged. Whether it’s confidence, whether there are issues, I don’t know, I really don’t know.

“We know what he is capable of doing. Somehow we’ve got to hope that he finds that.”

When asked if he thought time off might be beneficial, the player wasn’t sure.

“We’ll see,’’ he said. “Time will tell.

“I think, right now, it’s just getting that hunger and emotion back in the game and trying to figure out how to play with it again to where it was and where it can be at such a high level. If I figure that out, everything else will take care of itself.

“It’s been a frustrating year. You want to be better, you’ve got to be better, and I’ve just got to do my best to try to work through this.

“You’ve got to find ways and find little things to try to work your way through it. It’s definitely not going to be easy. You’ve got to get over the mental hump.

“Right now, that’s where it’s at. You’ve just got to get over the thinking process of thinking negatively and try to think positively and hopefully it can turn things around.’’

If his confidence was sky-high in 2010-11, it now seems to be as low as it can go.

“It’s not where it was two years ago or last year,’’ he said . “It’s almost back to where I was at Year 3, where things are just not going the way you want them to go.

“Enough of the excuses. You can’t just keep making excuses and saying all these things and pointing fingers and stuff like that. You’ve got to try to work yourself through it.

“It’s times like this, if you get through it, that kind of makes you stronger as a person and as a player. You want to try to get through it to try to make you stronger because you want to contribute for your team, you want to contribute for your teammates. You want to contribute for the fans and the city.

“For myself, I’ve taken pride in trying to be a big part of this team. Right now, it [stinks] because you haven’t had that same effect that you know you can bring.”

The coach said it has been hard to watch the player having such a difficult time. The coaching staff has attempted to steer him back to what made him successful, to no avail.

“I don’t know what it is, but we all know he’s struggling right now,’’ said the coach. “We’ve had our chats about his game for a while now. He’s really trying to turn the corner but doesn’t seem to be able to. So, as a coach, you’re trying to help him through that stuff.

“A big portion of it is going to have to come from him, obviously. We can support him and give him opportunities, but at the end of the day, you have to be able to step up there, and he knows he’s not.”

Further stories pointed out Lucic claiming he was moving his feet and then Julien showing him video that proved the opposite … pretty similar to what’s been going on with DD.

Once he gets his confidence back (and I don’t preclude a stint in Hamilton, assuming he has no impediments) the mavens of HIO will all proudly say that THEY were the one who never wavered in their faith of DD …

Thursday? That game means nothing right now. Focus on the Blues, they are one well coached disgusting team and we need to focus on cheering our boys on. Last time the Habs player the Blues the boys game them free play. Something like a pitty win for Jaroslav and Allen Walsh.

And that’s if Gryba is even playing … he has essentially split the time with Corvo. Given that even if dressed, Moen is not dropping the mitts and Prust is out, the Moar Bigger Brigade of HIO should realize that their fantasy lineup is not in place.

Therrien- Hey PK got a minute?
PK- Yeah coach?
Therrien- Big game vs the Blues coming up and we gotta keep the media off the Halak story.
PK- I gotcha coach, I’ll play it up big time
Therrien -Good Man

Lost in all of this mess is the toll all of the media and negative publicity re the Eller story appears to have had on him. I am not at all worreid about PK….Eller on the other hand is a kid who clearly needs his confidence to be effective and I hope they work on getting him going again.

I think Eller is on pace to increase is stats from last year. As soon as the team gets healthy, he’s gonna rip it up. Everyone right now have been playing cautious hockey. That happens when you lose guys to injury because you don’t want to be the next guy out.

Gonna go out and ask the question no one has ever, EVER brought up, even bothered to consider, ever dreamed up, EVER, but which needs askin.
Sorry to hurt feelings and point out this issue that no one at all has noticed at all, EVER. Here it is:
What in HELL is goin on with Dezzy Dezarnay?!?

The Habs will get off to a terrible start next year and struggle all season long, and just as it looks like we have McDavid locked up, Briere and DD will regain form, and a dymanic two months of quality hockey will push us right to the cusp of the 11th over all pick.

Been reading with a degree of amusement, familiarity and concern all the posts theorizing on the situation between the morally effervescent Therrien and HIS charge P.K Subban.

Note that my Sunday Catechism classes are still with me as I have capitalized the pronoun reference to MT in honour of RDS’s deification of MT and his, albeit fallibly, omnipotent status. Although I do consider RDS’s exaltation of MT as the God of October a startling example of euhemerism.

Those on either side of the issue may want to read the article, I have linked to in my post, to understand the turmoil that a person deals with when, perceived or real, he has to deal with unfair treatment within his ‘group’. The article also gives unambiguous clarification by a coach of standards he uses and insight into the effect on the play of those affected.

Now I do accept and grant that one or two or maybe a dozen of you may feel anguished enough by my implied comparison and wish to stand up and punched me square in the nose(or worse). That reaction is paradoxically a fine corroboration of my point…the awkward emotions involved in dealing that situations like these.

I will have to risk that. For, although I am not much of a fighter, I do stand as an indurate foe when standing on a matter of principle. And I will gladly accept those consequences. I should advise though that I recall with pride being assured through bloodied noses (my adversary and mine) that I can be one PRINCIPLED SOB!

OK … you got me .. that recollection may be another example of
euhemerism but I am sticking to it.